Dr Margot Salomon TW2 11.01F, Prof Susan Marks NAB7.14 and Dr Chaloka Beyani NAB7.04

This course is available on the MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Human Rights, Master of Laws and Master of Laws (extended part-time study). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course will be relevant to the following LLM specialisms: Public International Law, Human Rights Law.

This course is capped at 60 students. 

None but is a pre-requisite for LL4AX.

The course provides an introduction to historical developments and institutional structures that have given shape to the international human rights legal regime. Part 1 of this course considers a range of foundational and enduring debates around the role of international human rights as a force for emancipatory change and popular empowerment. With a particular focus on the post-1945 institutional order, Part 2 maps the terrain that established the human rights regime at the international level and that continues to inform the contributions and limits of human rights protection and promotion. Topics may include: Ethical Foundations • Universality and Diversity • Legal Sources and Normative Frameworks • Historical Antecedents • Global Regimes • Human Rights Enforcement UN Reform • Regional Human Rights Regimes.

20 hours of lectures in the MT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

10 weekly two-hour lectures in the Michaelmas term based on a format of lecture-discussions with the possibility of guest speakers where appropriate and depending on numbers, corresponding fortnightly one-hour classes.

One 2,000 word essay.

Marks and Clapham, International Human Rights Lexicon  (2005); Alston and Goodman, International Human Rights (2013); Kozma, Nowak, Scheinin, A World Court of Human Rights – Consolidated Draft Statute and Commentary (2010); Burgorgue-Larsen and Ubeda de Torres (eds), The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Case Law and Commentary (2011); Kennedy,The Dark Sides of Virtue (2004); C. Beitz, The Idea of Human Rights (2009).

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.